Ron Howard

Ever since he made his acting debut when he was less than two years old, former television star-turned-film director Ron Howard enjoyed legendary status on both sides of the camera. After he charmed t...
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Best Picture
A Beautiful Mind
Gosford Park
In the Bedroom
Moulin Rouge
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Directing
Robert Altman, Gosford Park
Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind
Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
David Lynch, Mulholland Drive
Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down
Actor in a Leading Role
Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind
Sean Penn, I Am Sam
Will Smith, Ali
Denzel Washington, Training Day
Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom
Actress in a Leading Role
Halle Berry, Monster's Ball
Judi Dench, Iris
Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge
Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom
Renee Zellweger, Bridget Jones's Diary
Actress in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind
Helen Mirren, Gosford Park
Maggie Smith, Gosford Park
Marisa Tomei, In the Bedroom
Kate Winslet, Iris
Actor in a Supporting Role
Jim Broadbent, Iris
Ethan Hawke, Training Day
Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast
Ian McKellen, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Jon Voight, Ali
Original Screenplay
Amélie: written by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant
Gosford Park: written by Julian Fellowes
Memento: written by Christopher Nolan
Monster's Ball: written by Milo Addica and Will Rokosand
The Royal Tenenbaums: written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson
Adapted Screenplay
A Beautiful Mind: screenplay by Akiva Goldsman
Ghost World: screenplay by Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes
In the Bedroom: screenplay by Todd Field and Robert Festinger
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: screenplay by Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh
Shrek: screenplay by Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman
Animated Film
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Monsters, Inc.
Shrek
Foreign Language Film
Amélie (France)
Elling (Norway)
Lagaan (India)
No Man's Land (Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina)
Son of the Bride (Argentina)
Art Direction
Amélie
Gosford Park
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Cinematography
Amélie
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Man Who Wasn't There
Moulin Rouge
Costume Design
The Affair of the Necklace
Gosford Park
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Documentary Feature
Children Underground
Lalee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton
Murder on a Sunday Morning
Promises
War Photographer
Documentary Short Subject
Artists and Orphans: A True Drama
Sing!
Thoth
Film Editing
A Beautiful Mind
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Memento
Moulin Rouge
Makeup
A Beautiful Mind
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Music (Score)
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
A Beautiful Mind
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Monsters, Inc.
Music (Original Song)
Kate &amp; Leopold
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Monsters, Inc.
Pearl Harbor
Vanilla Sky
Short Film--Animated
Fifty Percent Grey
For the Birds
Give Up Yer Aul Sins
Strange Invaders
Stubble Trouble
Short Film--Live Action
The Accountant
Copy Shop
Gregor's Greatest Invention
A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa)
Speen for Thespians
Sound
Amélie
Black Hawk Down
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Pearl Harbor
Sound Editing
Monsters, Inc.
Pearl Harbor
Visual Effects
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Pearl Harbor

Collateral Damage captured first place this weekend, inflicting about $15 million in box office damage.
It was, however, a far cry from a year ago when Hannibal bit off $58 million in ticket sales. Also driving this weekend were slimmer launches for Big Fat Liar with nearly $12 million and Rollerball with $9 million.
Although Hollywood faced competition this weekend from television coverage of the Olympics starting with Friday's opening ceremonies, most distributors felt it didn't hurt business as much as the lack of powerhouse new product did. Together, this weekend's top six films grossed about $57 million compared to the $58 million Hannibal did on its own last year.
Key films--those grossing $500,000 or more--did nearly $98 million, down nearly 20 percent from last year's $122.8 million. Business was up just over 2 percent from last weekend of this year when key films grossed $95.6 million.
THE TOP TEN
Warner Bros. and Bel-Air Entertainment's R rated terrorist action adventure Collateral Damage kicked off to a chart topping ESTIMATED $15.18 million at 2,824 theaters ($5,375 per theater).
Collateral had been set to opening last October, but its release was delayed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks amid concerns about how the public would react to a film about terrorism. Its first place opening now to a combative although not blockbuster sized gross of just over $15 million suggests Warners picked the right time to bring Collateral into the marketplace and that it took the right approach in its marketing. Given its story, the film could easily have wound up sitting on the shelf for many more months and having much less of a theatrical impact.
Collateral's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by Andrew Davis, it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"We had a terrific weekend," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said Sunday morning. "It's obviously good to be Number One. We had a solid box office accompanied by encouraging data. The exits were good. It drew mostly males. Sixty-two percent of the audience was male and of the four (demographic) quadrants, 39 percent were over 25 and 25 percent were females over 25. What was interesting was that women liked the movie as much as men did.
"We've got a holiday weekend coming up next week, so we'll get a little extra bump (in ticket sales over four days). Hopefully, we'll hang in there and based on the exits I think we probably have a good shot."
Applauding Collateral's marketing launch, Fellman emphasized that, "(Warner Bros. theatrical marketing president) Dawn Taubin and her marketing team did a great job in preparing the materials and opening the movie in the Number One position."
As for the Olympics' impact, Fellman said, "I think the Olympics definitely hurt everybody on Friday and a little bit on Saturday. You can just look at the numbers Friday night and see how much it dropped. The industry was 41 percent down last Friday on the 18 pictures that I tracked.
"It was not a great weekend. I think there's no question that we have a little bit of an Olympics situation there. But we'll make it up during the week. That seems to be what happens generally. I think that based on the tracking it looked like it was going to be a more competitive weekend for us."
Universal's PG rated family comedy Big Fat Liar opened with smiles in second place to an ESTIMATED $11.74 million at 2,531 theaters ($4,640 per theater).
Directed by Shawn Levy, it stars Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti and Amanda Bynes.
"We're very happy with our opening," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "The picture obviously has won over families as their choice for entertainment. The weekend business was really very good considering that overall everybody was concerned about the Olympics. It didn't deter people from going to the movies.
"The driving force of the picture was the fact that it offered comic and family entertainment. Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes are big TV stars and kids relate to that. Our exit polls were incredibly strong for our target audience, which is kids."
Asked what impact the Olympics had in general on the weekend, Rocco replied, "From what I can see, really not much. If you look at the drop from last year, it was driven by our own movie Hannibal (co-financed by Universal, which released it internationally, and MGM, which distributed it domestically) which opened to $58 million. But a $96 million weekend (this year) says that people are watching the Olympics, but they're doing it in their own time and it's not interfering with their out-of-the-home entertainment choices."
Liar should be nicely profitable for Universal, Rocco observed, because, "This picture was a very inexpensive film to make (and only cost) somewhere around $15 million. It's going to be a very profitable film for the studio, which is another reason why we're very excited."
MGM's PG-13 rated action adventure remake Rollerball debuted in third place to a low gear ESTIMATED $9.02 million at 2,762 theaters ($3,267 per theater).
Rollerball was originally set to open last fall. Its release was delayed to enable McTiernan to recut the picture and target it to 12- to 15-year-old boys.
Directed by John McTiernan, it stars Chris Klein and Jean Reno.
Revolution Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' R rated drama Black Hawk Down slid three slots to fourth place in its seventh week of release via Columbia Pictures, still showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $8.0 million (-28%) at 2,964 theaters -179 theaters; $2,699 per theater). Its cume is approximately $86.7 million, heading for $115-125 million and quite possibly more in domestic theaters depending on how well it does in Tuesday's Oscar nominations.
Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Josh Hartnett.
"I think it's a great position to be in with the Academy nominations coming Tuesday," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "We should be in excess of $87 million by Tuesday. We have high hopes for some nominations to power us even further than what we've accomplished so far. I think the normal course would be probably to be at $100 million prior to the last weekend of the month or, at least, during the last weekend of the month, worst case scenario, and with a little luck on Tuesday maybe we'll even get there a little quicker."
What was the Olympics' effect on the weekend? "I think Friday was noticeably lower," Blake said. "I think Saturday looked better, but I think there's definitely some effect. But you never know for sure. Your best answer as to why a weekend is down is always first to look at the movie releases. Last year you had Hannibal opening to $58 million, which is the top six (films) combined this weekend. There's no question, I think, that the Olympics had some impact, but the surest bet is always to look at the movie competition first."
Buena Vista/Disney's PG rated family comedy Snow Dogs, fell four pegs to fifth place, starting to melt in its fifth week with an ESTIMATED $6.7 million (-34%) at 2,454 theaters (theater count unchanged; $2,741 per theater). Its cume is approximately $59.5 million, heading for $75 million or more.
Directed by Brian Levant, it stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn.
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Spyglass Entertainment's PG-13 rated adventure The Count of Monte Cristo dropped two notches to sixth place in its third week with a less swashbuckling ESTIMATED $6.3 million (-27%) at 2,199 theaters (-12 theaters; $2,878 per theater). Its cume is approximately $32.2 million.
Directed by Kevin Reynolds, it stars James Caviezel, Guy Pearce and Richard Harris.
Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment's PG-13 rated Oscar contender drama A Beautiful Mind, which was fifth last week, tied for seventh place in its eighth week with a still solid ESTIMATED $5.84 million (-31%) at 2,220 theaters (-30 theaters; $2,630 per theater). Its cume is approximately $112.8 million.
Directed by Ron Howard, the Brian Grazer production stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
Warner Bros. and Pandora's PG rated youth appeal drama A Walk To Remember, which was third last week, was virtually tied for seventh place in its third week with a dull ESTIMATED $5.77 million (-35%) at 2,311 theaters (-109 theaters; $2,125 per theater). Its cume is approximately $30.5 million.
Directed by Adam Shankman, it stars Shane West and Mandy Moore.
Sony's Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment's PG-13 supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies slipped three spots to ninth place in its third week with a less thrilling ESTIMATED $4.9 million (-33%) at 2,275 theaters (-56 theaters; $2,154 per theater). Its cume is approximately $28.0 million.
Mothman was reportedly made for $42 million by Lakeshore and picked up by Screen Gems for domestic release for about $15 million.
Directed by Mark Pellington, it stars Richard Gere and Laura Linney.
Rounding out the Top Ten was New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated drama I Am Sam in its seventh week, holding okay with an ESTIMATED $4.53 million (-28%) at 1,450 theaters (+147 theaters; $3,121 per theater). Its cume is approximately $23.7 million.
Directed by Jessie Nelson, it stars Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer.
"Sam's doing very well," New Line Distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday. "We're very happy with Sam."
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival of Lot 47 Films' R rated comedy Scotland, PA to a bleak ESTIMATED $0.044 million at 17 theaters ($2,580 per theater).
Written and directed by Billy Morrisette, it stars James Le Gros, Maura Tierney and Christopher Walken.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
There were no national sneak previews this weekend.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front this weekend Lions Gate Films' R rated drama Monster's Ball, which has been generating an Oscar buzz, added theaters in its seventh week with a strong ESTIMATED $2.3 million at 341 theaters (+312 theaters; $6,745 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.9 million.
Directed by Marc Forster, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle.
"We'll be adding about 150 theaters this coming week so we'll be up to about 500 screens," Lions Gate president Tom Ortenberg said Sunday morning.
USA Films' R rated whodunit Gosford Park, a likely Oscar contender, continued to widen in its seventh week with an okay ESTIMATED $1.73 million (-27%) at 837 theaters (+37 theaters; $2,070 per theater). Its cume is approximately $21.9 million.
Directed by Robert Altman and starring an extensive ensemble cast, it was written by Julian Fellowes and produced by Altman, Bob Balaban and David Levy.
Miramax's R rated Oscar contender drama In the Bedroom widened in its 12th week with a still hopeful ESTIMATED $1.65 million (-10%) at 737 theaters (+188 theaters; $2,238 per theater. Its cume is approximately $19.2 million.
Directed by Todd field, it stars Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl and Marisa Tomei.
Universal's R rated fantasy thriller Brotherhood of the Wolf expanded in its fifth week to a slow ESTIMATED $1.15 million (-40%) at 405 theaters (+12 theaters; $2,835 per theater). Its cume is approximately $8.6 million.
Directed by Christopher Gans, it stars Samuel Le Bihan.
Miramax Zoe Films' R rated Oscar contending French comedy Amélie widened in its 15th week with a calm ESTIMATED $0.7 million (-10%) at 303 theaters (+30 theaters; $2,310 per theater. Its cume is approximately $24.6 million.
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, it stars Audrey Tautou.
Fine Line's R rated drama Storytelling expanded in its second week to an unexciting ESTIMATED $0.14 million at 38 theaters (+33 theaters; $3,700 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.3 million.
Written and directed by Todd Solondz, it stars Selma Blair and Robert Wisdom.
Miramax's R rated romantic comedy Italian for Beginners widened in its fourth week to a still encouraging ESTIMATED $0.13 million (-7%) at 15 theaters (+1 theater; $8,800 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.5 million.
Directed by Lone Scherfig, it stars Anders Berthelsen.
TriStar's PG-13 rated Japanese animated feature Metropolis widened in its third week with a still lively ESTIMATED $0.064 million (-19%) at 13 theaters (+1 theater; $4,960 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.3 million.
Miramax's R rated drama The Son's Room widened in its third week with an okay ESTIMATED $0.046 million at 7 theaters (+2 theaters; $6,571 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.1 million.
Directed by Nanni Moretti, it stars Moretti and Laura Morante.
INTERNATIONAL
Universal's international division reported that Spy Game opened well in the Netherlands last Thursday, grossing in its first day $69,000 on 68 screens. The studio noted that the opening day's business was at the same level as The Peacemaker and only 8 percent less than The Fast and the Furious, putting Spy Game on track for a successful run in the Netherlands.
Spy Game is in its third weekend in Australia, where it placed fourth again with grossed $0.35 million on 191 screens. Its cume after 17 days is $2.6 million.
Universal, which has also released the film in Belgium and Switzerland, has an international total of $4.5 million for Spy Game. After a total of 12 weeks of international release, the film's cume via Universal and other distributors is now $60 million.
Long Time Dead in its fourth week in the U.K. grossed $80,000 on 81 screens. Its cume after 23 days is $2.4 million.
D-Tox opened in Mexico Friday, placing second to the second week of Ocean's Eleven. Universal said that with reports of grosses still coming in its weekend estimate for D-Tox is $0.3 million on 150 screens.
American Pie 2 placed sixth in Mexico in its fifth week. After 30 days in theaters, its cume is now an outstanding $5.0 million, which is already 14 percent
bigger than the original American Pie.
Pie 2, which is still playing in several countries, has an overall international cume of $137.3 million.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films--those grossing more than $500,000--took in approximately $97.79 million, down about 19.53 percent from last year when they totaled $122.77 million.
Key films were up approximately 2.29 percent from the previous weekend of this year when they grossed $95.57 million.
Last year, MGM's opening week of Hannibal was first with $58.0 million at 3,230 theaters ($17,958 per theater); and Sony's third week of The Wedding Planner was second with $7.7 million at 2,726 theaters ($2,828 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $65.7 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $26.9 million.

Beware, evildoers: Ar-nuld's back and he's ready to kick some terrorist butt.
Postponed from its Oct. 5 release in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Collateral Damage arrives in theaters Friday as more than just another attempt by one of the world's biggest action stars to revive his flagging fortunes at the box office.
Suddenly, Collateral Damage represents a vicarious experience for audiences eager to punish those who dare to create terror on American soil. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a firefighter-is there a nobly profession these days?-who hunts down the Colombian terrorist responsible for planting a bomb that killed Schwarzenegger's wife and son. Accordingly, what unfolds as a tired and cliched throwback to the days of Commando should give Arnold Schwarzenegger his first No. 1 film since 1997's disappointing Batman &amp; Robin. Given that Schwarzenegger faces competition in the action-oriented Rollerball remake, and Friday's opening night 2002 Winter Olympics ceremony, Collateral Damage should mirror the $18.7 million opening that the equally simplistic Behind Enemy Lines enjoyed in late November.
The controversy swirling around Collateral Damage's depiction of Colombians as terrorists and drug manufacturers ironically should help the film at the box office. Newspapers are devoting the kind of coverage to Collateral Damage that not even Schwarzenegger, who is famous for being doggedly devoted to promoting his films, could hope to generate.
Yet no effort seems to have been made during Collateral Damage's four months on the shelf to reflect what happened at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Thus dialogue about today's America not experiencing the horrors of war could result in audience dismissing Collateral Damage as irrelevant despite its timeliness.
Schwarzenegger has fallen somewhat out of favor since his rare villainous turn as Mr. Freeze in the unintentionally campy Batman &amp; Robin ($107.3 million total). The gloomy horror yarn End of Days made a lackluster $66.8 million in 1999 while The 6th Day's $34.5 million in 2000 represented Schwarzenegger's worst haul at the box office since 1982's Conan the Barbarian heralded his arrival as a major action hero.
Schwarzenegger faces a few challenges in his bid to teach such whippersnappers as Vin Diesel and Jet Li a lesson or two in saving the day. Collateral Damage is the first Schwarzenegger offering since 1985's Commando to open outside of the summer and winter holidays, times when a big-budget thriller such as this would thrive. Also, the last time Schwarzenegger took on terrorists, he had Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold and director James Cameron by his side to turn True Lies into a $146.2 million smash.
All things considered, Collateral Damage will likely end up with about $70 million. Not bad, but not great for a man once considered the most bankable star in the world. Schwarzenegger will have to wait until next year's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines celebrate his seventh $100 million smash.
Schwarzenegger's Collateral Damage debuts against Rollerball, from his Predator and Last Action Hero director, John McTiernan.
Without Schwarzenegger, McTiernan scored major hits in the 1980s and 1990s with Die Hard, Die Hard With a Vengeance and The Hunt for Red October.
Lately, though, McTiernan seems intent on remaking just about every film made by director Norman Jewison. McTiernan and MGM scored a steamy hit with their 1999 remake of Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair. Now McTiernan and MGM reunite for Rollerball, a remake of Jewison's 1975 look at a world in which war has been replaced by a violent sport more popular than football.
Rollerball hardly rushes into theaters. MGM yanked the remake from its original Aug. 17 release date following terrible word of mouth. McTiernan is used to such delays. He directed The 13th Warrior before The Thomas Crown Affair. His adaptation of Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead remained on the shelf for so long that it ended up in theaters four weekends after the release of The Thomas Crown Affair.
The remake stars Chris Klein as Rollerball's very own Michael Jordan. His presence certainly will not lure too many spectators to Rollerball. Audiences do not display much interest in Klein unless he's wooing Mena Suvari in the American Pie series.
Also, the well-reviewed The Thomas Crown Affair tantalized audiences with the promise of Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo getting hot and heavy in some exotic locales. Rollerball offers no such draw, and consequently will fail to make even half of The Thomas Crown Affair's $69.3 million total. Rollerball might not even have enough steam to push past The 13th Warrior's less-than-noble $32.6 million gross.
And perhaps that's not such a bad thing for McTiernan. Rollerball flopping might convince McTiernan to leave Jewison's classics alone before he does damage to In the Heat of the Night or Fiddler on the Roof.
Not interested in a shot of testosterone? Then try Big Fat Liar, a family comedy that could provide a welcome alternative to parents worn out by Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Alaskan adventure Snow Dogs. Teen TV stars Frankie Muniz (Malcolm and the Middle) and Amanda Bynes (The Amanda Show) unite to put greedy Hollywood producer Paul Giamatti in his place.
Malcolm in the Middle debuted on Fox in early 2000 to great reviews and ratings, a factor that no doubt helped Muniz's My Dog Skip to become a modest hit a few weeks later. Big Fat Liar should benefit from Muniz's Malcolm in the Middle antics to the point where it equals My Dog Skip's $34 million total. Big Fat Liar also faces little competition for the pre-teen market in the weeks to come, with the upcoming Disney Peter Pan sequel Return to Neverland aimed at preschoolers.
The triple threat of Collateral Damage, Rollerball and Big Fat Liar, plus the art house expansion of Billy Bob Thornton's Monster's Ball ($1.4 million through Sunday), should drive audiences to theaters this weekend. Football fans, of course, stayed at home last Sunday to watch the New England Patriots' Super Bowl upset over presumed winners the St. Louis Rams. The 2002 Winter Olympics will keep some people glued to their TVs, but not on the same scale of the Super Bowl.
As expected, the Super Bowl resulted in disastrous debuts for two delayed offerings, Birthday Girl and Slackers.
Birthday Girl failed to capitalize on Nicole Kidman's likely Oscar nomination for either Moulin Rouge or The Others. The messy mix of comedy and drama, with Kidman as an Internet-ordered bride with a shady past, opened with a less-than-celebratory $2.3 million at 1,000 theaters. Birthday Girl won't make much more than $6 million, or just under half of the $13.7 million that Moulin Rouge earned in its first weekend in wide release.
Teens wanted nothing to do with Slackers Devon Sawa, Jason Schwartzman and James King. The R-rated college comedy opened with a fittingly lazy $2.7 million from 1,893 theaters, and has amassed a lowly $3.4 million through Wednesday. Seems no one assumed that Slackers is a sequel to Slacker, which Richard Linklater, the director of the philosophically meandering Gen X classic, initially feared. Slackers will likely end up with about $8 million, proving once again that raunchy teen comedies are currently out of vogue.
The Super Bowl did not hurt Black Hawk Down, The Count of Monte Cristo, A Walk to Remember, I Am Sam and Snow Dogs.
Black Hawk Down will surrender the No. 1 spot to Collateral Damage after serving as the champ for three weekends. Ridley Scott's bloody account of a showdown between U.S. troops and Somalian warlords has made $77.8 million through Wednesday, with $100 million a certainty.
The Count of Monte Cristo continues to surprise. Director Kevin Reynolds' remake of the Alexandre Dumas literary classic declined by just 23 percent in its second weekend, from $11.3 to $8.7 million. It again ranked behind A Walk to Remember in the Top 10, but has made more money thanks to strong weekday business. With $25.2 million through Wednesday, The Count of Monte Cristo will ride past the lackluster $27 million that The Musketeer made in September and should make do with a booty of about $40 million.
Mandy Moore's fans clearly aren't interested in football. The pop singer's A Walk to Remember dropped 27 percent in its second weekend, from $12.1 million to $8.8 million. With Valentine's Day approaching, A Walk to Remember will clearly benefit this week from boyfriends willing to do anything for their loved ones, including seeing an unabashedly soppy teen romance starring Mandy Moore. A Walk to Remember, however, is set to take a big hit next weekend with the arrival of Britney Spears' Crossroads. With $24.3 million through Wednesday, A Walk to Remember will likely singto the tune of $40 million.
I Am Sam, hear me warble The Beatles. The critics hated it, but the Sean Penn drama continues to make audiences cry for all the right reasons. I Am Sam, starring Penn as a mentally challenge father fighting for custody of his 7-year-old daughter, dropped 24 percent in its second weekend, from $8.5 million to $6.3 million. Playing at only 1,303, I Am Sam has made an excellent $18.7 million through Wednesday.
There's no rest for Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Snow Dogs. The family comedy continues to run much of the competition ragged as it enjoyed a third weekend haul of $10.1 million, or 22 percent less than the previous weekend's $13 million. That was the smallest decline in earnings for any of the films in the Top 10. Snow Dogs now has $52.3 million through Wednesday. Even with competition arriving in the form of Big Fat Liar and Return to Neverland, Snow Dogs should run its way to $75 million.
Richard Gere's The Mothman Prophecies flew lower by a better-than-expected 34 percent in its second weekend, going from $11.2 to $7.3 million. With $22.6 million through Wednesday, The Mothman Prophecies could survive being dismissed as a substandard X-Files knockoff and end up making close to the $37.7 million that Gere's Autumn in New York made in 2000.
The Super Bowl sacked Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. The martial arts spoof tumbled 45 percent in its second weekend, from $7 million to $3.8 million, for a total of $12 million through Sunday. Kung Pow: Enter the Fist will be lucky to kick its way to $17 million.
Leading Oscar contenders A Beautiful Mind, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Gosford Park should continue to do strong business in advance of Tuesday's nominations announcement.
Director Ron Howard celebrated his fifth $100 million hit last weekend with A Beautiful Mind. The biography of mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. has made $106.3 million through Wednesday. A slew of nominations, plus a win or two, will result in a possible $140 million total for A Beautiful Mind.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will vanquish Shrek this weekend to become the second-highest earner of 2001. Peter Jackson's epic has $267.5 million through Wednesday. Shrek ended its run with a $267.7 million. Securing a Best Picture nomination will help The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring climb to a $300 million total.
Robert Altman's classy murder mystery Gosford Park dropped by only 15 percent in its third weekend in wide release, from $2.7 million to $2.3 million. With its total standing at $19.9 million through Wednesday, Gosford Park will surpass The Player's $21.7 million this weekend to become Altman's biggest hit in more than two decades. A shot at Oscar gold would be the icing on the cake for an iconoclastic director who seems to be back at the peak of his creative powers.

Ready for some football?
America always is, especially when it comes to the Super Bowl. And that's bad news this weekend for Hollywood executives.
Even a possibly mismatched Super Bowl between the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots will keep millions away from theater movies on Sunday.
Take, for example, the last weekend in January for the past two years. In 2001, box office receipts stood at $96.2 million during that Super Bowl weekend, when the defensive-minded Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants. Business jumped a whooping 35.6 percent last weekend, to $130.5 million, all because NFL officials delayed the Super Bowl by one week following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Accordingly, this weekend sees the release of two films that pose little threat to reigning box office champ Black Hawk Down.
Nicole Kidman's very public divorce last year from Tom Cruise did not hurt her standing with moviegoers. Birthday Girl arrives hot on the heels of Moulin Rouge and The Others, but the thriller is unlikely to capitalize to any great extent on their success. Birthday Girl opens at 1,000 theaters, or 2,000 theaters less than Black Hawk Down, a sign that Miramax does not have great confidence in this tale of Russian mail-order bride Kidman and her easily duped husband-to-be (Ben Chaplin).
Also, Birthday Girl is another in the long line of oft-delayed Miramax-related offerings that includes recent flops Texas Rangers and Impostor. Originally scheduled for a Sept. 15, 2000, release, Birthday Girl did not make its debut until one year later at the Venice International Film Festival. Also, making matters worst, is the Super Bowl debut of another tardy thriller, Eye of the Beholder, which somehow grabbed the No. 1 spot in 2000 with a miserable $5.9 million debut.
Slackers, this weekend's second new release, also sat on the shelf for more than one year. Original distributor Destination Films went belly up after releasing such one-word-titled flops as Bats, Beautiful and Whipped, so Sony Picture's Screen Gems rescued Slackers from direct-to-video hell. Unrelated to Richard Linklater's 1992 Gen-X classic Slacker, this college-set comedy stars up-and-coming stars Devon Sawa (Final Destination), Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore), James King (Pearl Harbor) and Laura Prepon (That '70s Show) as unmotivated students looking solely for a good time.
Aside from American Pie 2, R-rated teen comedies proved a messier proposition last year than a baked goods in Jason Briggs' lap. Tomcats, Say It Isn't So and Freddy Got Fingered tanked. Not Another Teen Movie barely crawled its way to $37.8 million during the holidays.
Also, the Super Bowl wasn't too kind to last year's teen comedy, the witless Sugar &amp; Spice, which made a less-than-sweet $13.2 million. Slackers isn't going to overcome this indifference with any ease, especially with the PG-13 rated Orange County ($34 million through Sunday) likely to attract its fair share of teens not intrigued by the showdown in New Orleans.
Brotherhood of the Wolf expands this weekend after sinking its teeth into $1.6 million at 292 theaters. The slick and chilly French horror yarn has amassed a promising $4.2 million in three weeks, and could enjoy mainstream success among those thrilled by its Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-style martial arts antics. Beyond that, Brotherhood of the Wolf boasts too much gore and not enough romance to make anything close to $128 million that Ang Lee's Oscar-winning epic made during its record-breaking run.
This should leave Black Hawk Down with enough firepower to preside over the box office for a third and possibly final weekend before the Feb. 8 releases of Collateral Damage and Rollerball. Ridley Scott's bloody recount of a battle between U.S. troops and Somalia militia already has captured $62.7 million through Wednesday after two weeks in wide release. That firmly puts Black Hawk Down ahead of fellow leave-no-one-behind thrillers as Spy Game ($62.2 million) and Behind Enemy Lines ($57.4 million). Also, producer Jerry Bruckheimer can celebrate a second successful military campaign after his Pearl Harbor earned $198.5 million last summer.
Possible Oscar nominations could result in Scott securing his third consecutive $100 million following 2000's Gladiator and last year's Hannibal.
The release of five wide releases last weekend saw such holiday holdovers as Ocean's Eleven ($175.9 million through Sunday), Vanilla Sky ($96 million through Sunday), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ($76.2 million through Sunday) and Kate &amp; Leopold ($45 million through Sunday) take big hits.
Mandy Moore fans turned out in surprising numbers to see the teen pop diva's A Walk to Remember, allowing the earnest disease-of-the-week drama to earn a tuneful $12.1 million opening. A Walk to Remember's debut now sets the bar for Britney Spears' Crossroads, which opens Feb. 15.
Homework and school curfews no doubt resulted in Moore's so-so midweek performance, with A Walk to Remember trailing behind fellow rookies The Count of Monte Cristo, The Mothman Prophecies and I Am Sam. Its total through Wednesday: $13.9 million.
A Walk to Remember should weather the Super Bowl better than any of last week's new releases. Films that skew heavily toward women tend to do well during the Super Bowl, given that men are very much glued to the game. The Wedding Planner captured the No. 1 spot last year with a $13.5 million opening, followed by Save the Last Dance's $9.7 million third weekend haul. In 1999, She's All That debuted with $16.1 million, still a record for a Super Bowl weekend opening.
The Mothman Prophecies appeared to have triumphed last weekend over The Count of Monte Cristo, but when the final figures came in, the umpteenth remake of the Alexander Dumas adventure beat Richard Gere's chiller by a doubloon or two.
Kevin Reynolds' The Count of Monte Cristo opened with $11.3 million, slightly better than September's $10.3 million opening of The Musketeer. Reynolds also enjoyed a strong midweek, with The Count of Monte Cristo earning an additional $2.5 million on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Its total through Wednesday is $13.8 million. The Musketeer experienced a fast fade in the wake of lousy reviews and the Sept. 11 attack, so The Count of Monte Cristo should have no trouble surpassing its gross of $27 million.
The Mothman Prophecies will likely get sacked this weekend now that word is spreading that it is nothing more than a bewildering sub-standard X-Files episode. It has $13.2 million through Wednesday, with $25 million to $30 million a likely total.
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist kicked up an OK $7 million opening, with $7.9 million in total through Wednesday. The martial arts parody's main selling point, that it comes from Steve Oedekerk, the director of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, isn't going to be enough to prevent it from taking a major sock in the jaw this weekend.
The Beatles continue to captivate audiences some 30 years after they went their separate ways. A soundtrack populated with Fab Four covers helped I Am Sam count up to $8.3 million in its first week in wide at 1,268 theaters. Its $6,558 per screen average was the highest in last week's Top 10. With $10.3 million through Wednesday, I Am Sam will likely emerge relatively unscathed this Super Bowl weekend given that football fans are not among its core audience.
Snow Dogs also should emerge as Super Bowl-proof. The family comedy, with Cuba Gooding Jr., dropped just 27 percent in its second weekend, from $17.8 million to $13 million. Its total through Wednesday: $40.3 million. Those cute and courageous dogs will no doubt continue to make kids smile this weekend and into mid-February.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, A Beautiful Mind and Gosford Park will likely take something of a hit this weekend but will regain their footing should they earn their shot at Oscar gold.
Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, now at $260.2 million, is about to challenge Shrek as the second-most popular 2001 release. Shrek ended its run with $267.7 million.
A Beautiful Mind, now at $95.3 million, will cross the $100 million barrier this weekend. This will mark Ron Howard's fifth $100 million hit, and his fourth in five tries.
Robert Altman, who surprised everyone by winning the Golden Globe for Best Director, celebrated his biggest hit in 10 years last weekend. With $16.7 million through Wednesday, Gosford Park surpassed with ease the $13 million taken in 2000 by Dr. T &amp; the Women. Gosford Park will likely make more than The Player's $21.7 million total long before the Oscar nominations are announced Feb. 12.

Super Bowl weekend saw a third first Down on the box office gridiron as Black Hawk Down topped the chart again with $11.5 million.
Despite Hollywood's annual run in with Super Bowl Sunday, ticket sales were basically flat with this weekend last year, which did not include the Super Bowl. Key films -- those grossing $500,000 or more -- did nearly $97 million, up a marginal 0.07 percent from last year's $96.9 million. Business was up about 5.3 percent from last year's Super Bowl weekend, which fell a week earlier (Jan. 26-28) and saw key films total $92.1 million.
Neither of this weekend's wide openings, Slackers and Birthday Girl, had anything to celebrate, but a team of holdovers held the box office line. Snow Dogs, A Walk To Remember, The Count Of Monte Cristo and A Beautiful Mind all scored well enough to wear Top Five uniforms.
THE TOP TEN
Revolution Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' R rated drama Black Hawk Down scored a third first place victory in its sixth week of release via Columbia Pictures with a still muscular ESTIMATED $11.5 million (-32%) at 3,143 theaters (+42 theaters; $3,659 per theater). Its cume is approximately $75.5 million.
Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Josh Hartnett.
"Number one three weeks in a row and now getting within striking distance of the $100 million mark," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning.
"Everything continues to go quite well. A very respectable hold even accounting for an anticipated hit on Sunday by the Super Bowl. We're just looking to continued good openings around the world and looking forward to a continued good performance and, perhaps, some good news on Feb. 12 (in terms of Oscar nominations)."
Where is it heading? "I think a lot depends on whether we get in the Oscar nominations (list of) contenders," Blake replied. "If it just kept going as it's going you'd certainly anticipate something in the neighborhood of $115-125 million, but (it will help) if it continues to take on a little added life beyond the normal moviegoing issues.
"President Bush has now seen it at Camp David and Secretary of Defense (Donald) Rumsfeld has seen it and really complimented it. As I understand it, it was requested and is being sent to the troops in Afghanistan. So aside from the movie news, it's also (making mainstream news reports). Whenever that happens, it becomes a little hard to predict (where a film will get to). Maybe in strictly movie terms you'd say to yourself, $115-125 million. But it seems like a lot of other things are going on -- both in the normal movie range and, perhaps, outside of it."
Asked about the Super Bowl's effect on the box office, Blake explained, "We're predicting a 65 percent drop on Sunday. And that would be the high side of (what would be) normal. We're acknowledging that we certainly have a lot of male adults watching this movie who will be watching the Super Bowl. I think the normal range of drop for the Super Bowl is, at best, 50 percent off and we're anticipating a drop in the mid-60 percents.
"Given previous weeks, we'd be anticipating a drop 30 points better than that. So off a close to $6 million Saturday -- we were at $5.9 million, off only 26 percent on Saturday -- we're saying we're losing, perhaps, $1.7 million if it would have been a 35 percent drop on Sunday rather than a 65 percent drop. It could have been over $13 million (for the weekend)."
Buena Vista/Disney's PG rated family comedy Snow Dogs, held on to second place in its fourth week with a snappy ESTIMATED $9.9 million (-24%) at 2,454 theaters (+14 theaters; $4,021 per theater). Its cume is approximately $50.8 million, heading for $75 million or more.
Directed by Brian Levant, it stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn.
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Spyglass Entertainment's PG-13 rated adventure The Count Of Monte Cristo rose two notches to third place in its second week with a still vigorous ESTIMATED $9.0 million (-21%) at 2,211 theaters (+204 theaters; $4,049 per theater). Its cume is approximately $23.6 million.
Directed by Kevin Reynolds, it stars Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce and Richard Harris.
Warner Bros. and Pandora's PG rated youth appeal drama A Walk To Remember fell one rung to fourth place in its second week with a slower ESTIMATED $8.79 million (-28%) at 2,420 theaters (+9 theaters; $3,632 per theater). Its cume is approximately $23.3 million.
Directed by Adam Shankman, it stars Shane West and Mandy Moore.
Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment's PG-13 rated Oscar contender drama A Beautiful Mind fell one rung in its seventh week to fifth place, still showing strength after winning four prime Golden Globes with an ESTIMATED $8.51 million (-26%) at 2,250 theaters (+13 theaters; $3,780 per theater). Its cume is approximately $104.6 million.
Directed by Ron Howard, the Brian Grazer production stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
"I think everything gets hurt from the Super Bowl," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "Particularly this year because of Sept. 11, I suspect that the half-time show will be very patriotic. The Super Bowl is one of the sports that adults tend to watch. It's not just men. It's men and women.
"It becomes an event. People like to get together. Whether women are watching or not, they're there. And the guys are watching. It's just an excuse to have a little bit of a party. And with the game at 6 o'clock on the East Coast, it's certainly going to affect how the (overall) business performs for the weekend. We've taken that into consideration in our estimates."
Even with the Super Bowl's impact, Mind is showing great box office legs. "The hold is tremendous," Rocco said. "We cracked $100 million this weekend and we're very excited. It's obvious that with the incredible vision of Brian Grazer and the talent of Ron Howard it's (going to) have a long life."
Sony's Screen Gems division launched Lakeshore Entertainment's PG-13 supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies held on to sixth place in its second week with a slower ESTIMATED $7.5 million (-33%) at 2,331 theaters
(theater count unchanged; $3,218 per theater). Its cume is approximately $21.4 million.
Mothman was reportedly made for $42 million by Lakeshore and picked up by Screen Gems for domestic release for about $15 million.
Directed by Mark Pellington, it stars Richard Gere and Laura Linney.
"There was good news for all of the releases (from) last week where basically nothing cracked the market this week so the market had a chance to digest movies that I think they were interested in seeing, including Mothman," Sony's Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "It certainly looks like Mothmanwill get to where we thought it would -- mid-$30 millions to $40 million, which makes it very profitable for us."
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated epic The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring rose one slot to seventh place in its seventh week with a still solid ESTIMATED $6.58 million (-16%) at 2,309 theaters (-394 theaters; $2,848 per theater). Its cume is approximately $267.1 million.
Directed by Peter Jackson, Rings' ensemble cast is led by Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen.
Asked where Rings is heading, New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday morning, "We really need (Oscar) nominations and a (best picture) win. With the nominations and a win, I think we get over $300 million. Without it, I don't think we make it."
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated drama I Am Sam, which was seventh last week, was technically eighth but virtually tied for seventh place in its sixth week with an okay ESTIMATED $6.54 million (-21%) at 1,303 theaters (+36 theaters; $5,017 per theater). Its cume is approximately $17.5 million.
Sam's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend. Directed by Jessie Nelson, it stars Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer.
"That seems to be going nicely," New Line's Tuckerman said. "We're probably going to expand this week by maybe 100 screens and look for some good theaters that we didn't get on the first go-round. There's a lot of (Oscar) buzz on (Sean Penn) now.
"This is another one of those pictures that we have this year where every other review wasn't good, but the public seems to like the film. (With) Life As a House, the public overwhelmingly really loved it, (but) just didn't go. This one seems to be playing better, but it's the same thing. Once they see it, they love the movie."
As for the Super Bowl's impact, Tuckerman observed, "I think Lord will take a hit. I think Sam may do better because it skews female over 25. We're hoping we'll have really good matinees today and all those people who don't want to sit and watch the Super Bowl tonight -- (a group that) will obviously skew female -- will go to our movie."
20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated parody of martial arts films Kung Pow: Enter the Fist held on to ninth place in its second week with a weak ESTIMATED $3.76 million (-46%) at 2,475 theaters (-3 theaters; $1,617 per theater). Its cume is approximately $12.0 million.
Written and directed by Steve Oedekerk, it stars Steve Oedekerk.
Sony's Screen Gems label's opening of its R rated youth comedy Slackers tied for tenth place with a dull ESTIMATED $3.0 million at 1,893 theaters ($1,585 per theater).
Directed by Dewey Nicks, it stars Devon Sawa.
"We have U.S. rights only," Sony's Jeff Blake explained Sunday morning, noting that the $3 million estimate does include ticket sales in Canada. "Alliance has it in Canada and will be reporting (the film's Canadian grosses). Tomorrow we'll be releasing separate figures.
"That was a $4 million acquisition (for Screen Gems). It was produced by Destination Films (and) was one of the pictures caught up with Destination's bankruptcy. We acquired this one at very low cost, so we won't get hurt. But, obviously, it's not the performance we would have liked."
Paramount and MTV Films' opening of the PG-13 rated youth appeal comedy Orange County, which was tenth last week, tied for tenth place in its fourth week with a quiet ESTIMATED $3.0 million (-32%) at 2,295 theaters (-92 theaters; $1,348 per theater). Its cume is approximately $37.9 million.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, it stars Colin Hanks and Jack Black.
Addressing the Super Bowl's effect on the marketplace, Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning, "It obviously impacts the male -- and young male, primarily -- audience.
"If you look at the way these pictures held up on Friday and Saturday this weekend, that's more a result of the fact that there wasn't any major competition that came in. You can say (the Super Bowl) hurt in one respect in the overall business. However, the product that's in the marketplace actually may benefit Friday and Saturday (from the lack of strong new competition) because everybody stays away from the dates."
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival of Miramax's R rated thriller Birthday Girl with an unhappy ESTIMATED $2.5 million at 1,000 theaters ($2,500 per theater).
Directed by Jez Butterworth, it stars Nicole Kidman and Ben Chaplin.
CineTel Films' PG-13 rated drama A Rumor of Angels, released through MGM, arrived to a soft ESTIMATED $0.019 million at 7 theaters ($2,676 per theater).
Directed by Peter O'Fallon, it stars Vanessa Redgrave, Ray Liotta and Catherine McCormack.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
There were no national sneak previews this weekend.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front this weekend USA Films' R rated whodunit Gosford Park, a likely Oscar contender, continued to widen in its sixth week, still doing terrific business with an ESTIMATED $2.34 million (-15%) at 800 theaters (+44 theaters; $2,960 per theater). Its cume is approximately $19.3 million.
Directed by Robert Altman and starring an extensive ensemble cast, it was written by Julian Fellowes and produced by Altman, Bob Balaban and David Levy.
Universal's R rated fantasy thriller Brotherhood of the Wolf expanded in its third week to a still promising ESTIMATED $1.8 million (+12%) at 393 theaters (+101 theaters; $4,590 per theater). Its cume is approximately $6.7 million.
Directed by Christopher Gans, it stars Samuel Le Bihan.
Miramax's R rated Oscar contender drama In the Bedroom widened in its 11th week with a still hopeful ESTIMATED $1.9 million (-2%) at 549 theaters (+64 theaters; $3,461 per theater. Its cume is approximately $17.1 million.
Directed by Todd Field, it stars Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl and Marisa Tomei.
Lions Gate Films' R rated drama Monster's Ball added theaters in its fifth week with a still promising ESTIMATED $0.33 million at 29 theaters (+12 theaters; $11,400 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.5 million.
Directed by Marc Foster, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle.
Miramax's R rated romantic comedy Italian For Beginners widened in its second week to an encouraging ESTIMATED $0.15 million at 14 theaters (+10 theaters; $10,714 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.3 million.
Directed by Lone Scherfig, it stars Anders Berthelsen.
Universal's R rated drama Mulholland Drive expanded in its 17th week with a calm ESTIMATED $0.098 million at 72 theaters (+14 theaters; $1,355 per theater). Its cume is approximately $6.6 million.
Written and directed by David Lynch, it stars Justin Theroux and Naomi Watts.
TriStar's PG-13 rated Japanese animated feature Metropolis added theaters in its second week with a colorful ESTIMATED $0.08 million (-6%) at 12 theaters (+3 theaters; $6,667 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.2 million.
"It's down only 6 percent," Sony's Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "There's interest in that picture and we'll keep rolling it out across the country."
Miramax's R rated drama The Son's Room widened in its second week with an okay ESTIMATED $0.42 million at 5 theaters (+4 theaters; $8,400 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.048 million.
Directed by Nanni Moretti, it stars Nanni Moretti and Laura Morante.
INTERNATIONAL
Universal's international division reported that Spy Game in its second weekend in Australia grossed $0.53 million on 194 screens, placing fourth after Behind Enemy Lines, Ocean's Eleven and The Lord of the Rings. Its 11 day cume Down Under is $2.1 million.
Universal, which has limited international rights on Spy Game, has also released it in Belgium and
Switzerland. Universal's international cume to date for the picture is $3.5 million. After 11 weeks of international release the film's overall international total is $53 million.
In the U.K., the British horror film Long Time Dead in its third week grossed $0.5 million on 176 screens. Its cume after 16 days is $2.4 million.
American Pie 2 ranked fourth in Mexico, where after 23 days its cume is now $4.5 million. The sequel passed the original American Pie's total gross in Mexico of $4.4 million this weekend.
In Argentina, Pie 2 was fifth in its fourth week with a weekend gross of $40,000 on 47 screens. Its 25 day cume is $0.55 million.
Pie 2 continued to show strength in Brazil where it is in its seventh week with a cume of $3.1 million. Its international cume now totals $137 million.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $96.96 million, up a marginal 0.07 percent from last year when they totaled $96.89 million.
Key films were down approximately 23.76 percent from the previous weekend of this year when they grossed $127.13 million.
Last year, Sony's second week of The Wedding Planner was first with $10.61 million at 2,785 theaters ($3,808 per theater); and Warner Bros.' opening week of Valentine was second with $10.02 million at 2,310 theaters ($4,340 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $20.6 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $21.4 million.

A barrage of Hollywood celebrities descended on Berlin for the 52nd Berlin International Film Festival, which runs for 12 days (starting Feb. 6) and will screen almost 400 films.
Russell Crowe, Ron Howard, Judi Dench, Catherine Deneuve, Harvey Keitel, Kevin Spacey, Marisa Tomei, Steve Buscemi and Cate Blanchett will help round out the star-studded festival which usually highlights lesser-known talent and pictures.
Also known as the Berlinale, the festival is regarded as one of the more intellectual movie showcases of the year, and judging from the A-list of attendees, a definite rival to the Cannes Film Festival.
Twenty-three films will compete for the festival's top prize, the prestigious Golden Bear, including the already critically acclaimed American films The Royal Tenenbaums starring Gene Hackman, The Shipping News starring Spacey, Iris starring Dench and Monster's Ball starring Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry.
Four homegrown German films are also in the mix, including Heaven, an entry from Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer.
Salaam Bombay! director Mira Nair will chair the 10-member jury, which last year awarded the Golden Bear to Patrice Chéreau for his film Intimacy.
Director Robert Altman (Gosford Park) and Italian actress Claudia Cardinale will receive lifetime achievement awards.

Hollywood saw sizzling summer-like business in mid-January as moviegoers applauded a wide range of new films.
Ticket sales were up sharply over last year as Black Hawk Down continued to soar like an eagle atop the chart with $18.2 million and the next five films all enjoyed double digit grosses.
The box office was driven by Hollywood having something in theaters this weekend to appeal to virtually all moviegoers. There was a lively kick off for A Walk To Remember (teenage girls and Christian youth groups), a better than prophesized launch for The Mothman Prophecies (supernatural thriller fans, especially males) and a dashing debut for The Count of Monte Cristo (male and female action adventure fans). Moreover, Snow Dogs (families) continued to run hard and fast and A Beautiful Mind (adults and awards driven audiences) had a truly beautiful hold.
Key films--those grossing $500,000 or more--took in nearly $131 million, up almost 42 percent from last year's total of $92.1 million. The weekend's strength came despite major competition on Sunday from two televised football playoff games.
THE TOP TEN
Revolution Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' R rated drama Black Hawk Down held on to first place in its fifth week of release via Columbia Pictures with a still commanding ESTIMATED $18.2 million (-36%) at 3,101 theaters (theater count unchanged; $5,869 per theater). Its cume is approximately $60.1 million, heading for at least $120 million and quite possibly more than that if it does with Oscar nominations Feb. 12.
Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Josh Hartnett.
"Clearly, it's heading to a very exciting place," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "We've had several goals on the picture. One was to get it noticed in limited release and get the word of mouth started. And that went well. Then it was to open it wide on a holiday weekend and it certainly passed that test with flying colors, having a record Martin Luther King weekend last weekend. And the next goal was a good solid hold and I think down 36 percent off a holiday weekend and still number one certainly accomplishes that goal.
"I think as we look ahead we feel very good about the weeks to come. It's a quality picture that I think there's great word of mouth on. Probably our next goal and hope will be that perhaps we'll continue to get the kind of recognition the picture has been getting. Much like we got the Directors Guild nomination this week for Ridley Scott, we certainly would like to have the film recognized in that regard (with Oscar nominations). I think its commercial run is well in place and if we continue to get the kind of critical response we're getting and the awards consideration we're getting, it's going to be very hard to put a number on (where it's going) at this point. Much like what happened to Traffic last year and to other films and seemingly is happening, to their credit, to Beautiful Mind, it kind of takes on a life of its own. And certainly, I guess, our next goal is to have the combination of commercial success and artistic recognition that would allow us (with) both to kind of have a multiplier effect on what the (domestic theatrical) number might be."
Buena Vista/Disney's PG rated family comedy Snow Dogs, which was second last week, tied for second place in its third week with a high energy ESTIMATED $13.6 million (-24%) at 2,331 theaters (+138 theaters; $5,580 per theater). Its cume is approximately $39.3 million.
Directed by Brian Levant, it stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn.
"I would say that this has been one hell of a weekend for our business," Buena Vista Distribution president Chuck Viane said Sunday morning. "I mean, it's spectacular. I guess we've just offered so much choice this weekend that everybody had a picture to go see.
"And, obviously, the extremely strong holdovers for Snow Dogs and Black Hawk Down were both extremely good. It just all adds up to a wonderful, wonderful weekend. There are six movies that are over $11 million and that's pretty spectacular for the last week of January. All of this is just really good news."
Looking at the strong hold for Snow, Viane observed, "Being off only 23.6 percent for the weekend is a remarkable hold. And, obviously, being at $39 million-plus already is just great. The picture is playing by word of mouth. When a picture can hold up this strong with five new films coming in its face, then I would suggest that it's going to be around for a long time."
Asked where Snow is heading in domestic theatrical release, Viane replied, "Well, I know it's in the $70 millions now, but how high I don't know."
Warner Bros. and Pandora's PG rated youth appeal drama A Walk To Remember opened in a virtual tie for second place with a brisk ESTIMATED $13.57 million at 2,411 theaters ($5,626 per theater).
Directed by Adam Shankman, it stars Shane West and Mandy Moore.
Industry estimates Sunday had Walk somewhat lower in the $12-13 million range, but Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said he anticipates stronger than usual Sunday business because of extensive promotion Warner Bros. has done within the Christian community and with Christian media to bring the film to their attention.
"The reason, I would assume, that (others have it estimated lower) is that they probably (have projected) Sunday at around $3 million, which would bring it down to $12.5 million," Fellman said.
"The picture performed very well on Friday and was up 10 percent on Saturday, which is following a pattern that most teen movies would follow--which would mean your Sunday number would probably be close to $3.4 million or maybe $3.5 million."
Pointing out that the film "is very Christian-based," Fellman explained that, "the effort has been made through the Christian community (to promote the film). They have claimed to us that people are going to go to church today and they're all going to talk about (the film). This is the sermon of the day. And they're all going to take their families to see A Walk To Remember today. Where I have told them that the pattern seems to be one that would indicate not that strong a Sunday (for a teen appeal film), they're very optimistic that their Sunday is going to be very good. So I'm going to support them (with a stronger estimate) until proven otherwise."
Asked why overall business is so good this weekend, Fellman replied, "I think you create a momentum when people go to the movies and enjoy the movies. We had the biggest year at the box office (in 2001) that we've ever had. And we had this huge Christmas. People went and they enjoyed and they saw trailers (for upcoming releases) and they're going.
"the economy is suffering a little right now and when the economy suffers the entertainment industry and our movie business always picks up. There are a lot of movies out there. There's good diversity in who they reach. I think all the demographics were covered this weekend--young males, older females, Academy Awards, action. Everything was out there.
"And we'll see today. We'll see if the Christian groups support us (with Walk). And we'll see what happens to Monte Cristo and Lord of the Rings and Kung Pow with these two big (football playoff) games on today. We've got a female (appeal movie up against) football, so it doesn't matter to us."
Sony's Screen Gems division launched Lakeshore Entertainment's PG-13 supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies exceeded industry expectations to arrive in fourth place with a fantastic ESTIMATED $11.8 million at 2,331 theaters ($5,063 per theater).
Mothman was reportedly produced for about $42 million by Lakeshore. Screen Gems is said to have acquired domestic rights in the area of $15 million, which should make it very profitable for Sony given the level of business to which it opened.
Directed by Mark Pellington, it stars Richard Gere and Laura Linney.
"It was a little sleeper for Screen Gems that Screen Gems did their usual great publicity job on," Sony's Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "It certainly is a picture that had a great cast and a major star in Richard Gere, but really was an interesting picture. (It's) certainly not a straight horror picture. It's a picture about creepy supernatural occurrences that really kind of caught a little more of the public's imagination than a lot of people predicted.
"I think this is a good solid opening for us and the word of mouth on this picture is going to be good. I think it's a real creepy thriller much in the way that pictures like The Others were that kind of creep on the market and really get a nice word of mouth going. We feel real good that it got off the start it got off to and that it will hang in there. It's a very crowded market, so as usual I give a lot of credit to the Screen Gems team for breaking through. The Others opened to $14 million and word of mouth got them to $100 million. We certainly hope the same pattern happens for us."
Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment's PG-13 rated drama A Beautiful Mind fell one peg in its sixth week to fifth place, showing sensational post-Golden Globes legs with an ESTIMATED $11.67 million (-1%) at 2,237 theaters (+12 theaters; $5,215 per theater). Its cume is approximately $93.0 million, heading for $150 million or more in domestic theaters depending on how it performs in terms of Oscar nominations Feb. 12.
Directed by Ron Howard, the Brian Grazer production stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
"We're very happy with A Beautiful Mind," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "the story of the weekend is the 1 percent off. That's the best hold (of the weekend). No one's seen a hold like this in a long time. Saturday's business was up 14 percent from last week."
Asked if Mind's four Golden Globe wins, including best picture/drama, were a key reason for its strong hold, Rocco replied, "Absolutely. (It's) the Golden Globes, the visibility we've gotten from the Golden Globes and the word of mouth on the film. We were up (after the Globes) like 6 percent, 8 percent and 9 percent on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Business was up from the previous week."
Focusing on the benefit films get from exposure and wins on the Globes and the Oscars, Rocco noted, "they're globally televised. You get a lot of publicity and good will (because) they're such broadly televised shows."
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Spyglass Entertainment's PG-13 rated adventure The Count of Monte Cristo arrived in sixth place to a promising ESTIMATED $11.5 million at 2,237 theaters ($5,729 per theater).
Directed by Kevin Reynolds, it stars Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce and Richard Harris.
"The Count is doing very well," Buena Vista Distribution president Chuck Viane said Sunday morning. "I just (saw) the CinemaScores and in all six (demographic) quadrants we were A-plus and with our own college network (of exit polls) we scored an excellent, which is great. We're so, so pleased with that. The numbers are wonderful and we'll expand the run. We'll add another couple hundred (theaters) this week. Because the picture's so strong, we're going to chase its success."
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated drama I Am Sam went wide in its fifth week, placing seventh with a terrific ESTIMATED $8.33 million at 1,268 theaters (+1,287 theaters; $6,565 per theater). Its cume is approximately $8.5 million.
Sam's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by Jessie Nelson, it stars Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer.
"I think Sam's expansion's terrific," New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday morning. "We're really thrilled. $6,665 for per screen average is great."
In the case of Sam, the film is not being driven by critics honors and other awards. "It's another one of those movies that the public really likes," Tuckerman said. "Despite the fact that we got mixed reviews, the public really likes it. It's like Life As a House, once the public gets to see it they really like the film."
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated epic The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring fell five slots to eighth place in its sixth week with a slower ESTIMATED $8.03 million (-36%) at 2,703 theaters (-563 theaters; $2,969 per theater). Its cume is approximately $258.7 million, heading for $300 million or more in domestic theaters.
Directed by Peter Jackson, Rings' ensemble cast is led by Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen.
20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated parody of martial arts films Kung Pow: Enter the Fist entered the marketplace in ninth place with a dull ESTIMATED $7.27 million at 2,476 theaters ($2,936 per theater).
Steve Oedekerk, who wrote and directed, also stars in the film.
"We're pretty pleased with that number actually," Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder said Sunday morning. "The cost is low and we'll be in profit by the end of the week."
Rounding out the Top Ten was Paramount and MTV Films' opening of the PG-13 rated youth appeal comedy Orange County, down five notches in its third week with a quiet ESTIMATED $4.6 million (-48%) at 2,317 theaters (theater count unchanged; $1,985 per theater). Its cume is approximately $34.2 million, heading for $45-50 million. Directed by Jake Kasdan, it stars Colin Hanks and Jack Black.
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival of TriStar's PG-13 rated Japanese animated feature Metropolisto a lively ESTIMATED $0.1 million at 9 theaters ($11,072 per theater).
"It was really well reviewed (and got) four stars from Roger Ebert," Sony's Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "Almost unanimously (it got) three and a half to four stars. It's really a very interesting Japanese animated film that Columbia TriStar Home Video acquired and will be going out with. It's having a special pre-release under the TriStar label. (Averaging) $11,072 for a picture that we're just giving a really specialized release to is a pretty good start."
Fine Line's R rated drama Storytelling arrived to an encouraging ESTIMATED $0.082 million at 4 theaters ($20,410 per theater).
Written and directed by Todd Solondz, it stars Selma Blair and Robert Wisdom.
Miramax's R rated drama Pinero opened to an okay ESTIMATED $0.05 million at 14 theaters ($4,000 per theater).
Written and directed by Leon Ichaso, it stars Benjamin Bratt.
Miramax's R rated drama The Son's Room opened at one theater in Los Angeles to a slow ESTIMATED $4,500.
Directed by Nanni Moretti, it stars Moretti and Laura Morante.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
There were no national sneak previews this weekend.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front this weekend USA Films' R rated whodunit Gosford Park, a likely Oscar contender, continued to widen in its fifth week with a still merry ESTIMATED $2.93 million at 756 theaters (+98 theaters; $3,875 per theater). Its cume is approximately $16.1 million.
Directed by Robert Altman and starring an extensive ensemble cast, it was written by Julian Fellowes and produced by Altman, Bob Balaban and David Levy.
"the remarkable thing is the effect the Golden Globes has had on the film," USA Films distribution president Jack Foley said Sunday morning. "You could see it last week where the grosses actually ascended just about daily from Monday after the Globes--and this is just after the best director (award). That was really exciting.
"We were concerned about this weekend, particularly playing against a holiday weekend last weekend. It seems that the impact carried into the weekend from the Golden Globes. To be down 14 percent is amazing, particularly in this weekend where the competition is so tough with four new movies in the marketplace and a couple which are directly competitive to this film."
Foley pointed out that, "the jump from Friday to Saturday was an increase of 70 percent where in the last few weeks the Friday to Saturday increase has been about 50 percent to 56 percent, in that range. It's doing really well. It's just hanging (in there) beautifully. It seems to be settling in very comfortably with its core (audience) and at very high numbers. From theater to theater the grosses are terrific."
Universal's R rated fantasy thriller Brotherhood of the Wolf expanded in its second week to a promising ESTIMATED $1.57 million at 290 theaters (+183 theaters; $1,573 per theater). Its cume is approximately $4.2 million.
Directed by Christopher Gans, it stars Samuel Le Bihan.
Lions Gate Films' R rated drama Monster's Ball added theaters in its fourth week with a hopeful ESTIMATED $0.2 million at 11 theaters (+3 theater; $17,750 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.1 million.
Directed by Marc Foster, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle.
Miramax's R rated romantic comedy Italian for Beginners to an encouraging ESTIMATED $0.055 million at 3 theaters ($14,058 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.14 million.
Directed by Lone Scherfig, it stars Anders Berthelsen.
INTERNATIONAL
Universal's international division reported that
Spy Game opened in Australia last Thursday to $0.93 million on 190 screens. Ocean's Eleven placed first Down Under with Spy neck and neck with Lord of the Rings for the number two spot. Universal has limited international rights on Spy, which it has also released in Belgium and Switzerland. Universal's Spy's international total is $2.1M.
In the U.K., Long Time Dead grossed $0.44 million on 217 screens for Friday and Saturday in its second weekend. Dead ranked sixth on the British chart and had a nine day cume of $1.7 million.
American Pie 2 finished third for the weekend in Mexico, behind the openings of Vivir Mata and The One with a two day gross of $0.27 million on 235 screens. Its cume is $4 million, which is 220 percent ahead of the original American Pie. The sequel will pass the original's final gross of $4.4 million later this week.
In Argentina, Pie 2 was fourth in its third week with a 3-day gross of $55,000 on 60 screens, down only 18 percent. It followed the openings of Vanilla Sky and Amélie and week nine for Harry Potter. Pie 2's 17-day cume in Argentina is $0.5 million.
In Brazil this weekend, Pie 2 grossed $41,000 on 95 screens, bringing its 37 day cume to $3 million.
Pie 2's overall international cume to date is a sexy $135.4 million.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films--those grossing more than $500,000--took in approximately $130.75 million, up about 41.96 percent from last year when they totaled $92.1 million.
This weekend's key film gross for three days cannot be compared to the previous weekend of this year, which was a four day holiday weekend.
Last year, Sony's opening week of The Wedding Planner was first with $13.51 million at 2,785 theaters ($4,851 per theater); and Paramount's third week of Save the Last Dance was second with $9.78 million at 2,561 theaters ($3,818 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $23.3 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $31.8 million.

Prior to Sept. 11, Hollywood expected little in the way of brisk business during the last weekend of January. Then, in the wake of the terrorist attacks, NFL officials pushed back the Super Bowl one weekend to Feb. 3.
That prompted Hollywood to take decisive action.
Mandy Moore's A Walk to Remember and Josh Hartnett's 40 Days and 40 Nights were scheduled pre-Sept. 11 to debut against Super Bowl celebrations.
Miramax pushed back 40 Days and 40 Nights to March 1, but now Moore must fend off Richard Gere's The Mothman Prophecies, director Kevin Reynolds' The Count of Monte Cristo, the martial arts spoof Kung Pow: Enter the Fist and the expansion of Sean Penn's I Am Sam.
The Count of Monte Cristo and The Mothman Prophecies will likely slug it out as this weekend's top new choice.
How many times can Hollywood remake Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo? Not as many times as Hollywood cares to revisit Dumas' The Three Musketeers, but still enough to substantiate claims that studio executives have run out of any vaguely original ideas. Ironically, Reynolds' costume adventure fled its October release to avoid a bloody battle with director Peter Hyams' The Musketeer.
The Count of Monte Cristo look likes it will emulate Hyams' hyperkinetic The Musketeer, which opened Sept. 8 with $10.3 million without the benefit of a familiar face playing D'Artangan, but ultimately only earned an unimpressive $27 million.
Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce star as the childhood friends turned enemies when both fall in love with the same woman. Unfortunately, Reynolds brings such little energy to Caviezel's transformation from wrongly imprisoned dupe to vengeful nobleman that audiences might find themselves pining for the dumb-downed but high-kicking antics of The Musketeers.
At the end of the day, The Count of Monte Cristo isn't going to make anyone forget that Reynolds directed Waterworld.
Richard Gere is looking to score his first hit in five years sans Julia Roberts. He suffered two major flops in 2000--Autumn in New York ($37.8 million) and Dr. T &amp; the Women ($13.1 million)-after reuniting in 1999 with his Pretty Woman co-star for the smash hit Runaway Bride ($152.3 million). The Jackal earned $54.9 million in 1997, but that modest gross can be attributed to pairing Gere with Bruce Willis. Gere's last solo hit: 1996's Primal Fear ($56.1 million).
Based on a true story, The Mothman Prophecies features Gere as a reporter investigating a series of strange events and visions afflicting a small West Virginian town. Directed by Arlington Road's Mark Pellington, this supernatural-tinged drama could capitalize on the success of fellow PG-13 chillers The Sixth Sense and The Others. Gere, though, might want look toward May's Unfaithful as his best chance of breaking out of his slump.
So Mariah Carey's Glitter bombed. That isn't stopping bubblegum pop divas Mandy Moore and Britney Spears from trying their hand at conquering the silver screen. Spears' Crossroads opens Feb. 15, which gives Moore three weeks to establish her acting credentials.
After a brief appearance in last summer's The Princess Diaries, Moore headlines A Walk to Remember as a mousy minister's daughter who falls for rich stud Shane West.
That A Walk to Remember is based on Nicholas Spark's popular novel should guarantee initial interest from non-Moore fans. However, what is essentially another disease-of-the-week tearjerker should fare slightly better than Glitter ($4.2 million) and On the Line ($4.3 million) with 'N Sync's Lance Bass and Joey Fatone.
Cross What's Up, Tiger Lily? and Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the result seemingly is Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. Steve Oedekerk doubles as star and director in this knockabout farce about a theater patron who somehow ends up trapped inside the old kung fu flick Savage Killers.
Oedekerk is best known for directing the anything-blows Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, so his presence far from guarantees a huge turnout this weekend. If anything, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist might attract die-hard martial fans open to the idea of Oedekerk poking fun at their favorite genre. Otherwise, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist won't become the chop socky equivalent of Scary Movie.
Already dismissed by numerous critics as Rain Man meets Kramer vs. Kramer, I Am Sam expands this weekend to 1,000-plus theaters after a low-key limited run that yielded $182,229 through Monday. Sean Penn stars as a mentally challenged father fighting to regain custody of his 7-year-old daughter. Michelle Pfeiffer is Penn's lawyer.
New Line had hoped that I Am Sam would emerge as an Oscar contender, but lukewarm reviews now make that an unlikely prospect. Without Oscar respect, I Am Sam must rely on its Beatles-driven soundtrack to generate interest.
Aside from Steven Soderbergh, Ridley Scott currently ranks as Hollywood's hardest-working director.
For his efforts, Scott's enjoyed two $100 million hits in the past two years, Gladiator and Hannibal. If Soderbergh can direct three consecutive $100 blockbusters in a row--Erin Brockovich, Traffic and Ocean's Eleven--Scott surely is up for the task.
Scott guns for his third smash with Black Hawk Down, the brutal recount of a 1993 battle between U.S. troops trapped in war-torn Somalia, which stormed this past Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend into 3,101 theaters after three weeks in limited release.
Black Hawk Down easily unseated The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as the nation's top film. It has $39.8 million through Wednesday after a $33.6 million four-day weekend tally. It ranks as the second-highest January opening behind 1997's Star Wars: Special Edition reissue.
Scott's war drama should continue to dominate the box office at least until the Feb. 8 arrival of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Collateral Damage and director John McTiernan's Rollerball remake.
A $100 million total seems likely for Scott. Sturdy reviews should also result in several high-profile Oscar nominations. The sense of patriotic pride that turned the similarly themed Spy Game and Behind Enemy Lines into modest hits still lingers, offsetting minor criticism that the film is one long, gory shootout. Also, the last time stars Josh Hartnett and Tom Sizemore and producer Jerry Bruckheimer went to war, they scored a $198.5 million hit in Pearl Harbor.
For the MLK holiday weekend, Disney let the Snow Dogs out, a moderately entertaining family comedy revolving around a fictional Alaska mushing race called the Arctic Challenge.
Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as a Miami dentist who heads to Alaska to find out more about his late biological mother. Northern Exposure-style antics aside, Gooding bonds with both the mushing dogs willed to him and the father (James Coburn) he never knew.
Snow Dogs astonished everyone by earning $23.7 million during the MLK holiday weekend, and has $25 million through Wednesday. That makes it the fourth-best January opening. Perhaps it should not have come as that much of a surprise considering Snow Dogs experienced sellouts at 85 percent of the 960 theaters that sneaked the film Jan. 5. Besides, there's only so many times that parents can or will take their children to see something other than the aging Monsters, Inc., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
That the eponymous heroes of Snow Dogs bark rather than talk might prevent the film from becoming a runaway smash on the scale of last year's Dr. Dolittle 2 and Cats and Dogs. Accordingly, Snow Dogs should end up with less than Dr. Dolittle 2's $112.9 million and Cats and Dogs's $93.3 million.
Snow Dogs might be a surprise hit, but it isn't likely to reverse the notion that Gooding is unwilling to stretch creatively since winning an Oscar for Jerry Maguire. Beyond giving a sterling performance in Men of Honor, Gooding's allowed himself to slum in moronic thrillers (Instinct, Chill Factor, the straight-to-video A Murder of Crows). He did enjoy two hits in 2001, but only as an ensemble cast member of Pearl Harbor and the amusing Rat Race.
Serving as a straight man to eight crafty canines isn't going to help his cause. Nor is spending much of Snow Dogs falling down and yelling at the top of his lungs.
Snow Dogs does represent a return to the doghouse for director Brian Levant. His Beethoven howled its way to $56.9 million in early 1992, so he knows a thing or two about handling dogs. He also could do with a hit after the ill-conceived The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.
Is Colin Hanks a chip off the old block?
Orange County, the first feature film lead role for Tom Hanks' son, opened Jan. 11 with a zesty $15 million and enjoyed a $10.5 million MLK holiday weekend. Most of the credit should go to the aggressive campaign launched by MTV Films, which played up the presence of Jack Black. A wise move, considering Black's Shallow Hal opened in November with $22.5 million and ended up with a fat $69.6 million.
Orange County's total through Wednesday is $29.2 million. The youth comedy, featuring Hanks as an aspiring writer desperate to attend Stanford University, should remain an alternate this weekend for teens too cool for A Walk to Remember and apathetic toward Sunday's NFL Conference Championships.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring should generate an additional $8 million despite its fall from the top office top spot. Peter Jackson's epic fantasy already has $250 million through Wednesday--soundly supplanting Rush Hour 2 as New Line's biggest hit domestically--with a precious $300 million total all but inevitable. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will no doubt see its decrease in earnings slowed in weeks to come should this first of three films based on author J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy secure a number of high-profile Oscar nominations.
The challenge now before The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: to surpass Harry Potter. The boy wizard fell out of the Top 10 over the MLK holiday weekend after 2 ½ months in release and a $309.6 million total through Monday.
A Beautiful Mind's victory at last weekend's Golden Globes--it earned Best Picture (Drama) while Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly walked away with acting--will help Ron Howard's biography of tortured mathematical genius John Forbes Nash Jr. retain its momentum. After three weekends in wide release, A Beautiful Mind has amassed $80.1 million through Wednesday. That is a formula for a possible $120 million tally, or more if it dominates the Oscars.
The Royal Tenenbaums' Gene Hackman won the Golden Globe for Best Actor (Comedy/Musical), which should keep Wes Anderson's quirky family farce very much in the minds of moviegoers. The Royal Tenenbaums has $38 million through Wednesday, following a strong $5.3 million MLK holiday weekend at only 997 theaters.
Even more impressive is the outstanding performances by two other Oscar contenders, Gosford Park and In the Bedroom.
The comical murder mystery Gosford Park finds influential director Robert Altman at his most playful. Also serving as an examination of the British class system, Gosford Park looks set to become Altman's most popular film since he skewered Hollywood practices with 1992's The Player ($21.7 million). Gosford Park expanded Jan. 11 from 131 theaters to 518 theaters, jumping from $1.5 million to $3.6 million. Its total through Wednesday is $12.8 million, following a MLK holiday weekend haul of $4.1 million.
In the Bedroom, with Tom Wilkinson and Golden Globe winner Sissy Spacek coping with the shooting death of their son, also expanded Jan. 11, from 207 theaters to 424 theaters with great success. Todd Field's directorial debut has collected $8.6 million through Wednesday.
In the Bedroom should grow stronger in coming weeks if, as expected, it's blessed with a handful of Oscar nominations. The drama is Miramax's best shot at landing a Best Picture nomination given that The Shipping News is struggling to overcome lukewarm reviews and a poor box office total of $7.9 million through Monday in limited release.
The bell looks set to ring on Ali now that the MLK holiday has come and gone. Michael Mann's biography didn't benefit from Muhammad Ali's televised 60th birthday celebration, and poor word of mouth has hit the film harder than punch by Joe Frazier. Ali's total through Monday is $57.2 million, a disappointment considering the film's $105 million budget.
Heist yarn Ocean's Eleven is still on a roll, having racked up $172.4 million in ill-gotten gains through Wednesday.
New competition in Snow Dogs saw Monsters, Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius take a sharp tumble during the four-day holiday. Monsters, Inc. has $249.9 million through Monday, surpassing Toy Story 2 ($245.8 million) as the highest-grossing Disney/Pixar offering. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius has $74.1 million through Monday, with $80 million a likely landing spot for the pre-teen fly boy.
Five new wide releases Friday finally means, at long last, good riddance to deserving underachievers Vanilla Sky ($94.1 million) and Kate &amp; Leopold ($43.2 million).

The Oscar race gets more complicated by the minute.
The Director Guild of America announced their nominees Tuesday for outstanding directorial achievement in feature films in 2001--and there are a few notable surprises.
Predictably, Ron Howard got a nod for his elegant A Beautiful Mind as did Peter Jackson for his spectacular Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Veteran Hollywood director Ridley Scott made the DGA cut for a second year in a row for his tense war drama Black Hawk Down, a film which has been heavily touted as Oscar bait, but hasn't been on many critics lists so far. Scott was nominated for Gladiator last year but lost to Ang Lee, who won for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. (Scott was also nominated by the DGA in 1991 for Thelma &amp; Louise.)
Unexpectedly, however, two new faces entered the fray, making the race for Oscar gold even more muddled. Aussie director Baz Luhrmann received his first DGA nomination for the musical extravaganza Moulin Rouge and Christopher Nolan snagged his first for the time altering Memento.
Of course, this leaves a short list of directors who were surprisingly left out, most notably Robert Altman. The veteran director has already been honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press, the American Film Institute, the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle for his work on the British dark comedy Gosford Park, but apparently was not an option for the DGA.
Other noted directors who were clearly omitted include David Lynch (Mulholland Drive), Todd Field (In the Bedroom), Steven Spielberg (A.I. Artificial Intelligence) and Michael Mann (Ali).
Although the winner of the prestigious DGA award is considered a barometer on who will win the Oscar, it's not always foolproof. For example, DGA winner Lee lost the Oscar to Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) last year.
Howard won the award in 1995 for Apollo 13 but lost the Oscar to Mel Gibson (Braveheart) that same year. Howard, nonetheless, says he's honored to receive his third DGA nomination.
"It's exciting and gratifying because [A Beautiful Mind] is a challenging movie," Howard told the Hollywood Reporter.
"We all felt Akiva [Goldsman's] screenplay promised the possibility, if we did our work well and wisely, of transporting audiences into Nash's mind. The directorial challenge was to find the cinematic expression of that. I was nervous as hell going into this film. I felt it offered a really unique opportunity to take a journey into a mind that could be personalized for audiences so that they could go on that journey with Nash instead of watching it from safe distance," Howard explained.
Luhrmann was surprised by his nomination.
"Of all the acknowledgments the film has received, this is really great because directors know what the job is.
"Directing isn't just moving traffic around. I feel very honored because other directors understand more than anyone else what it is to see the musical back where it once belonged, and they understand what it is to negotiate it through a dangerous system. I've gotten some of my most supportive reactions from other directors, who have been incredibly generous because they recognize this film is a blow for creative freedom," Luhrmann gushed.
The 54th annual DGA Awards will be handed out March 9 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, Calif.

The Oscar race was kicked up a notch last week with the announcement of the 2001 Broadcast Film Critics' Association Awards, held Jan. 11 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
A Beautiful Mind walked away with the top honors, receiving awards for best movie, best actor (Russell Crowe), best supporting actress (Jennifer Connelly) and best director (Ron Howard, who tied with Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann).
In other categories, Sissy Spacek received the best actress award for In the Bedroom and Ben Kingsley won best supporting actor for Sexy Beast.
Established in 1995, the Broadcast Film Critics Association represents 163 television, radio and online critics in the United States and Canada. The organization presents its Critics' Choice Awards each year to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.
For those of you keeping track, here's the final tally:
BFCA winners for 2001
Best Picture: A Beautiful Mind
Best Actor: Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
Best Actress: Sissy Spacek - In the Bedroom
Best Supporting Actor: Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind
Best Acting Ensemble: Gosford Park
Best Director: (TIE) Ron Howard - A Beautiful Mind; Baz Luhrmann - Moulin Rouge
Best Screenplay: Memento - Christopher Nolan
Best Young Actor/Actress: Dakota Fanning - I Am Sam
Best Animated Feature: Shrek
Best Family Film (live action): Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Best Picture Made for Television: Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
Best Actor in a Picture Made for Television: James Franco - James Dean
Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television: Judy Davis - Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
Best Foreign Language Film: Amelie
Best Song: (TIE) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - "May It Be" - Enya; Vanilla Sky - "Vanilla Sky" - Paul McCartney
Best Composer: Howard Shore - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Directed Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind," a fictionalized biopic of Nobel Prize winner who overcame schizophrenia John Forbes Nash; received Golden Globe for Best Director and BAFTA nomination for Best Film

Directed Tom Hanks as symbologist Robert Langdon in film adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code"

With Grazer, executive produced highly touted drama series "Felicity" (The WB)

Summary

Ever since he made his acting debut when he was less than two years old, former television star-turned-film director Ron Howard enjoyed legendary status on both sides of the camera. After he charmed television audiences as Opie Taylor, the loveable son of a small town sheriff on "The Andy Griffith Show" (CBS, 1960-68), Howard cemented his fame as Richie Cunningham on the iconic series, "Happy Days" (ABC, 1974-1984). Though he was dogged for the remainder of his career with being identified by fans as Taylor or Cunningham, he did manage to reinvent himself as an Oscar-winning director of some of cinema's biggest commercial successes. Sometimes criticized for being overly sentimental and directing with a heavy hand, Howard nonetheless topped the box office on several occasions with films like "Splash" (1984), "Cocoon" (1985) and "Parenthood" (1989). By the time he directed the critically acclaimed and award-winning "Apollo 13" (1995), "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) and "The Da Vinci Code" (2006), Howard was in the upper echelon of directors working in Hollywood and his producing partnership with Brian Grazer one of the most successful in Hollywood. Even his critically maligned blockbusters like "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) managed to turn a healthy profit. When he produced one the most beloved and acclaimed TV comedy series of all time, "Arrested Development" (Fox, 2003-06), he also conquered that medium, making Howard one of the most consistently successful filmmakers and TV producers of his generation.

Born April 20, 1959; landed lead role in "Gentle Ben" (CBS, 1967-69); appeared in most of his brother's films

Education

Name

Burroughs High School

University of Southern California

Notes

He was not to be confused with British actor Ronald Howard, the son of actor-director Leslie Howard.

Three of Howard's four children were named for the places they were conceived: Bryce Dallas in Dallas; Paige Carlyle and Jocelyn Carlyle at the Hotel Carlyle in New York City. – from Premiere magazine, April 1991

"I've always believed that I'd do my best work from age 50 to 65. I told that to my brother Clint about 20 years ago. He looked at me and said, 'That means you're in store for a lot of sh*tty movies.'" – Howard quoted in Entertainment Weekly, April 1, 1994

"I've always been involved in sort of pop entertainment. You live with a little bit of frustration that that kind of work is not taken as seriously as other kinds of work. I mean, there's great feedback, but yeah, sure, I was sort of legitimately categorized and types as the all-American guy." – Howard to Bernard Weinraub in The New York Times, Nov. 12, 1996

"Part of my code of life became defined by not fulfilling those clichés for people, which later included not being thrown in jail or being written up as a child actor on the rocks. I consciously wanted to avoid those cliches." – Howard quoted in the Daily News, March 21, 1999

"For a long time, people thought of me as a TV actor dabbling in directing. Then they thought of me as a director who only did comedy – then I started making dramas and people raised their eyebrows." – Howard quoted in the New York Post, March 25, 1999

"I learned to write in order to sign autographs at five. People were asking me for my autograph on the first season of 'Andy Griffith' and my dad said, 'I guess you'll have to learn to sign your name. Printing won't work.'" – Howard quoted in the Boston Herald, March 26, 1999

"Brian [Grazer]'s a much better producer than I am. Good producers need to roll their sleeves up in a way that I can be kind of timid about. The director in me doesn't want to step on another director's toes, but directors' toes need to a little stomping from time to time. Even mine. I depend on Brian for that with me." – Howard quoted in Premiere magazine, April 1999

"My objective is to reach the point where no script written in this town has my name crossed off as a potential director." – Howard quoted in GQ magazine, May 1999

"As a director, this film was definitely the biggest challenge I've ever faced. 'Apollo 13' was daunting. 'Backdraft' was tricky, and I also learned a lot on 'Willow,' but 'The Grinch' had a visual trick in almost every shot. Still, I don't like to be too blatant with those tricks, and I don't like the photography and the stylistic choices to overtake and overpower the characters." – Howard on directing "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," to American Cinematographer, November 2000

"For a long time I was trying to display unexpected range. That was much more of an issue. But in the last four or five years, I kind of worked in all the genres I expect I ever will work in. There was a certain turning point." – Howard to New York magazine, Dec. 17, 2001

"Everybody wants their films to be appreciated and respected at every level," he says. "Of course, I hope 'A Beautiful Mind' is accepted in that way. I wish I'd been nominated and won for 'Apollo 13.' I'd be lying if I didn't say that. But I don't know what factors go into what is an impossible choice to begin with. It's never [comparing] apples to apples anyway – God knows what colors those choices." – Howard on the Oscars, quoted in The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 4, 2002

"John Huston directed until he dropped. That's what I want to do." – Howard quoted in Premiere magazine, February 2002

Howard was inducted into The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2013.